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Posted By

Bobby D
on 2012-01-20
05:16:08
 Plus 4 Fix help?

Hi, I need to find a fix for a Plus 4.

I am new to the Plus 4 so please talk dumb to me.

When I turn on the machine I get a Black Screen with sort of faded white lines. I get this using the RF or the Video connection. I assume this isn't normal and I should be greeted with the Plus 4 Software Load screen...

The tape deck seems to work and the little red light comes on but thats all.

Does anyone have any ideas/has heard of this before to what I can do to try and get it up and running? Could it be that my TV doesn't support it? Tried it on 3 sets ranging from New to newish to pretty darn old.

Any help would be appreciated.

Posted By

crock
on 2012-01-20
05:32:56
 Re: Plus 4 Fix help?

Is it a modern TV? Do you know if it's an NTSC or PAL machine? It's possible the TV doesn't support the TV standard of your Plus/4.

If it was a black screen proper, th usual culprits in descending order of likelhood are the CPU (7501/8501), the TED chip (7360/8360), RAM circuitry, PLA and then everything else.

WHat makes me think this is unlikely is that when you say the tape works, do you mean that the spindles go round when you press play? If so, when you press stop, can you still hear the motor running in the cassette deck? If the motor only runs when you press play, this is good news, because the computer controls the cassette motor through software when it senses you have pressed play which means that the machine is running, but you can't see the display.

Rob


Posted By

Bobby D
on 2012-01-20
06:39:07
 Re: Plus 4 Fix help?

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the quick response. It is a PAL machine. I have tried on three televisions, one which is about 15 years old. The spindles go round when I press play. The motor stops running when the tape isn't being played.

I can only assume that the machine is running and I can't see the display. However I have tried both the RF and the Video connections with no luck, the Video cable I bought is brand new so it can't be that plus I get the same screen from both connections so its not a cable issue as far as I can tell.

Any more help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Posted By

crock
on 2012-01-20
08:11:58
 Re: Plus 4 Fix help?

With the volume up on your TV and the 'black' screen visible, try blind typing the following:

POKE65297,40

You should here a constant tone. If you then type

POKE65297,72

This should change to a low pitched rumble.

Could you take a picture of what you see on the screen? Sounding like a modulator fault (which I have very rarely seen) or a flaky TED chip.

Rob



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